I'm Gonna Need A Rain Check On That Dance
- Alex Clark
- Jul 1, 2017
- 3 min read
Captain America: The First Avenger
July 22nd, 2011
Dir. Joe Johnston
Marvel’s penultimate film before the big team up they have promised brings us onto the last of The Avengers we have yet to meet. And at the same time, sending us back in time to the Second World War to meet Steve Rogers, Captain America.
This movie brings us the origin of a man who is a massive health risk, a tiny little man who wants to enrol in the army. After a bit of sympathy and support from his best friend Bucky Barnes he manages to get in, but only because he is the prime candidate for the super soldier program which is being put together by scientist Erskine and Howard Stark.
We also get to see an ancient relic known as the Tesseract come into play during the course of this movie and we all know how big a part this comes to play in both Captain America and the films that follow. I think because we are now 5 films into the MCU, this film always needed to be more than just a straight origin story, so the introduction of a bigger concern for the lead character turns out to be quite crucial in the story. Otherwise I feel this film could become just a WWII film, with a guy and a shield and it always needed to be more than that in the context of what Marvel are building at this point.
This is predominantly a story about morals, strength, the importance of friendship and how just because you might be the smaller guy doesn’t mean you can’t stand for something. Which is crucial really when you look at the films that come after this, Cap plays a big part in keeping everything tied together (Things that I will touch up in the coming weeks) we really see this come to light when he disobeys orders to go deep beyond enemy lines to save Bucky and the other guys with him. These themes run in this film from the first time we see Steve at the start of the movie trying to stop a guy from shouting in the cinema to at the very end where he has to direct the plane into the water to stop Red Skull’s nukes hitting America, and ultimately sacrificing a future with Peggy Carter. All this is highlighted by the quote the night before Rogers is due to take the Super Soldier Serum ‘Whatever happens tomorrow you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man’.
We get a good line up of supporting characters in this film and ones that shake the universe more so that other characters we get in other films/TV shows. (Maybe with the exception of Phil Coulson!) Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) as Steve’s best friend, Peggy Carter who is officer and love interest of Cap’s, both of these two get seen again on the big and small screen although in the case of Hayley Atwell’s portrayal of Agent Carter, there’s still a sense that her TV show was cut short prematurely. Hugo Weaving plays a good antagonist as Red Skull, but I think you are always going to get a solid powerful performance from him. And then there’s Arnim Zola who also has a large part to play in the future, although one we probably don’t expect seeing him play Red Skull’s right hand man here.
1940s America and Europe are almost side characters on their own accord, just because it gives that feeling of desperation when soldiers go missing, or when Cap is just singing in front a load of soldiers for bonds. I’m always inclined to feel an old war setting like this or indeed Wonder Woman really help to set the film up and set it apart from others where we might just see a town or city face destruction as the 4 films that proceed this one.
8/10 - Captain America is arguably one of Marvel’s most popular comic book characters off screen, if not him he’s very close behind Tony Stark and Iron Man, so it would be fitting that this would give us what I feel is the second best origin story of Phase One of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. And also possibly just as important to really tie everything together for The Avengers. We know have A Billionaire, a Hulk, a God, a Super soldier, a spy, an organisation to keep them all together and an object that everyone wants in The Tesseract. Next up The Avengers.
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